Articles

  • September 15, 2011, Patheos: The Qur’an and Mysticism: A Review of Craig Thompson’s “Habibi”
    In Craig Thompson’s fascinating graphic novel “Habibi”, the Qur’an is central to the story, though Islam is not.
  • July 15, 2010, The Washington Post: A Muslim Cartoonist on “Draw Muhammad Day”
    Willow on the Scandal and Its Place in the Propaganda War Between Censorship and Freedom of Expression.
  • June 2007, Islamica Magazine:“The Lost Jihad: Love in Islam” Defeating the ‘No agape in Islam’ myth.
  • Summer 2007, Parabola Magazine: “Holy Levitating Sadhus, Lakshman!”
    The new Desi-inspired line of Virgin Comics in review.
  • April 8, 2007, New York Times Magazine: “Sleepless in Cairo”
    On insomnia, exile and very thin walls.
  • Winter 2006, Parabola Magazine: Praying to Al Khafid
    How do we reconcile a benevolent God with the problem of evil? A Muslim perspective.
  • Autumn 2006, Parabola Magazine: “Arguing in Mecca”
    Analyzing ijtihad and critical thinking in modern Islam.
  • July 07, 2006, Identity Theory: Eco Next: The Mechanics of Hyperpraxis
    Engaging hyperreality through symbol-manipulation.
  • March 2006, Science and Spirit: Re-thinking ID from a Non-Christian Viewpoint
    Is Intelligent Design Theory really a “big tent”?
    (Note: This article underwent ideological shifts during the editing process with which I did not entirely agree. This is its original, less polemical title.)
  • February 22, 2006, Canada National Post: “In the Middle East, the Medium is the Message”
    Examining the Danish cartoon crisis with help from the Arab world’s most prominent political cartoonists.
  • October 27, 2005, Cairo Magazine: Two Ramadans
    An intimate look at the Islamic holy month from the perspective of two native Cairenes.
  • September 20, 2005, Cairo Magazine: After the Flames
    Analyzing the political fallout of the Beni Suef theatre fire of 2005.
  • September 14, 2005, Canada National Post: “Listen to the Sheikha”
    A unique one-on-one interview with one of the Middle East’s most popular female Sufi clerics, and a look at the history of female leadership in Islam.
  • July, 2005, Atlantic Monthly: The Show-Me Sheikh
    A profile of Sheikh Ali Gomaa, current Mufti of Egypt and one of the highest authorities in modern Sunni Islam.
  • May 29, 2005, New York Times Magazine: “The Comfort of Strangers”
    A controversy-sparking essay about riding in the women’s car on the Cairo subway.
  • April 20, 2005, Cairo Magazine: Free, Fair and Off the Air
    A critical look at the policies of state-owned Egyptian press during the 2005 Egyptian elections.
  • April 16, 2005, Cairo Magazine: Culture, Not Politics
    How folk music is closing the gap between ordinary Egyptians and local Sudanese immigrants.